Reviews
Humbled by the Journey
In “Humbled by the Journey: Life Lessons For My Family…And Yours”, from which the proceeds will go to The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation, Miguel "Mike" Benito Fernandez takes readers on parallel journeys: A 508-mile pilgrimage along El Camino de Santiago from France through Spain – and from a dirt road Cuban town to the pinnacles of U.S. business success. The book shines a light on the lessons Mike has learned over a lifetime of working tirelessly, overcoming obstacles and “showing up.” The most important lesson: “You have to take care of those who come after you.”
In 2013, Mike hiked along El Camino -- an ancient, spiritual trail that attracts "pilgrims" from around the world -- with a pledge for each mile that led to more than $5 million for a children's hospital. The experience was challenging and rigorous and provided Mike with a unique opportunity to embrace his life in a deep, meaningful way. “Humbled by the Journey” is part self-portrait, part adventure story, and shuttles readers back and forth between Mike’s path on El Camino and his journey through life. El Camino becomes a metaphorical backdrop as Mike narrates the details of his 62 years of living.
In 1964, in the midst of revolutionary activity in Cuba, Mike’s family was expelled from their rural hometown without any warning or money and soon after made New York City home. Suddenly, they all were on a new trajectory of unforeseen challenges, opportunities and lessons. Mike lumbered through school, while working as a floor cleaner and delivery boy to help pay for tuition. During these years, Mike learned about values and principles from those around him, including his father and an extraordinary Jesuit priest. After a stint in the Army, Mike worked as a door-to door salesman, selling health insurance, and subsequently found his stride in business and success, against great odds.
Since then, Mike has given more than $125 million to causes focused on health care, education and those most in need. He requires only this: Recipients must want to help themselves, be willing to sacrifice to gain a better future, and promise to pay it forward when they can.
Filled with engaging stories and beautiful photographs, “Humbled by the Journey” is more than a rags-to-riches tale; it is a celebration of family, an appreciation of the brief encounters, fleeting moments and memorable events that irrevocably changed a man’s life. With humor, compassion and optimism, Mike inspires and reminds readers, that by giving to and connecting with others, they will gain for themselves the ultimate prize: a rewarding and “rich” life.
An Age of License: A Travelogue
Acclaimed cartoonist Lucy Knisley (French Milk, Relish) got an opportunity that most only dream of: a travel-expenses-paid trip to Europe/Scandinavia, thanks to a book tour. An Age of License is Knisley s comics travel memoir recounting her charming (and romantic!) adventures. It s punctuated by whimsical visual devices (such as a new experiences funnel); peppered with the cute cats she meets along the way; and, of course, features her hallmark drawings and descriptions of food that will make your mouth water. But it s not all kittens and raclette crepes: Knisley s experiences are colored by anxieties, introspective self-inquiries, and quotidian revelations about traveling alone in unfamiliar countries, and about her life and career that many young adults will relate to. An Age of License which takes its name from a French saying is an Eat, Pray, Love for the alternative comics fan."
Longitude
Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that "the longitude problem" was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day--and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. Thousands of lives, and the increasing fortunes of nations, hung on a resolution.
The scientific establishment of Europe--from Galileo to Sir Issac Newton--had mapped the heavens in both hemispheres in its certain pursuit of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution--a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land. Longitude is a dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest and Harrison's forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking, and opens a new window on our world.
The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run
This is not just a book about running. It's a book about cupcakes. It's a book about suffering.
It's a book about gluttony, vanity, bliss, electrical storms, ranch dressing, and Godzilla. It's a book about all the terrible and wonderful reasons we wake up each day and propel our bodies through rain, shine, heaven, and hell.
From #1 New York Times best-selling author, Matthew Inman, AKA The Oatmeal, comes this hilarious, beautiful, poignant collection of comics and stories about running, eating, and one cartoonist's reasons for jogging across mountains until his toenails fall off.
Containing over 70 pages of never-before-seen material, including "A Lazy Cartoonist's Guide to Becoming a Runner" and "The Blerch's Guide to Dieting," this book also comes with Blerch race stickers.
Picabo: Nothing to Hide
The compelling story of America's most loved Olympic champion. "Since winning an Olympic silver medal in 1994, Street has been the most interesting personality in a sport desperately lacking for charisma. The story she tells is an entertaining portrait of her eccentricities, insecurities, mindboggling crashes, and triumphs."--Philip Hersh, Chicago Tribune
"Nothing to Hide "offers an interesting insight into the world of big-time ski racing."--John Meyer, Denver Post
"Once you read Street's new autobiography, you understand how she did it . . . even a fraction of her life would make for an interesting story."--David King, San Antonio Express-News
"Picabo: Nothing to Hide" is powerful, honest autobiography. Picabo Street shares her coming-of-age experience, revealing how adversity shaped a rebellious tomboy into a champion athlete and compassionate woman, in harmony with her family and at peace with her fear of failure.
Five Weeks in the Amazon
If you enjoy a fast-paced read and a true story, Five Weeks in the Amazon is the book for you. It's packed with humor, full of unexpected twists and there is never any way to know how it will end. Author Sean Michael Hayes has written a book in a similar style to current blockbuster success, Cheryl Strayed's "Wild". His adventure puts him face to face with universal problems that we all must overcome in life. His search is a desperate attempt at something he has fought for since first being diagnosed with depression--how to live a happy life.
Hayes presents solutions which seem like wins not just for himself, but for the reader that's right there with him. Want to find out what happened to a backpacker that hiked alone into the Amazon jungle and live with a shaman?
13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do
As a licensed clinical social worker, college psychology instructor, and psychotherapist, Amy Morin has seen countless people choose to succeed despite facing enormous challenges. That resilience inspired her to write “13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do”, a web post that instantly went viral, and was picked up by the Forbes website.
Morin's post focused on the concept of mental strength, how mentally strong people avoid negative behaviors--feeling sorry for themselves, resenting other people's success, and dwelling on the past. Instead, they focus on the positive to help them overcome challenges and become their best.
In this inspirational, affirmative book, Morin expands upon her original message, providing practical strategies to help readers avoid the thirteen common habits that can hold them back from success. Combining compelling anecdotal stories with the latest psychological research, she offers strategies for avoiding destructive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors common to everyone.
Like physical strength, mental strength requires healthy habits, exercise, and hard work. Morin teaches you how to embrace a happier outlook and arms you to emotionally deal with life's inevitable hardships, setbacks, and heartbreaks--sharing for the first time her own poignant story of tragedy, and how she summoned the mental strength to move on. As she makes clear, mental strength isn't about acting tough; it's about feeling empowered to overcome life's challenges.
Bringing Down the House
It's Friday night and you're on a red-eye to the city of sin. Strapped to your chest is half a million dollars; in your overnight bag is another twenty-five thousand in blackjack chips; and your wallet holds ten fake IDs. As soon as you land in Las Vegas, you are positive you are being investigated and followed. To top it all off, the IRS is auditing you, someone has been going through your mail -- and you have a multivariable calculus exam on Monday morning. Welcome to the world of an exclusive group of audacious MIT math geniuses who legally took the casinos for over three million dollars -- while still finding time for college keg parties, football games, and final exams. In the midst of the go-go eighties and nineties, a group of overachieving, anarchistic MIT students joined a decades-old underground blackjack club dedicated to counting cards and beating the system at major casinos around the world. While their classmates were working long hours in labs and libraries, the blackjack team traveled weekly to Las Vegas and other glamorous gambling locales, with hundreds of thousands of dollars duct-taped to their bodies. Underwritten by shady investors they would never meet, these kids bet fifty thousand dollars a hand, enjoyed VIP suites and other upscale treats, and partied with showgirls and celebrities.
Handpicked by an eccentric mastermind -- a former MIT professor and an obsessive player who had developed a unique system of verbal cues, body signals, and role-playing -- this one ring of card savants earned more than three million dollars from corporate Vegas, making them the object of the casinos' wrath and eventually targets of revenge. Here is their inside story, revealing their secrets for the first time.
Blankets
Wrapped in the landscape of a blustery Wisconsin winter, “Blankets” explores the sibling rivalry of two brothers growing up in the isolated country, and the budding romance of two coming-of-age lovers. A tale of security and discovery, of playfulness and tragedy, of a fall from grace and the origins of faith.
Finding Ecstasy
Given the choice between chocolate or sex, Rebecca always chose chocolate. That is, until a series of transformational experiences caused her to let go of three decades of sexual repression and shame. A serendipitous encounter with a Brazilian man sets the stage for a six-year journey toward the discovery of a new sexual and spiritual truth and a love that comes full circle.
Set against the backdrop of Buenos Aires and London, with the soulful music of the blues intricately woven throughout the journey, this book is more than just a captivating love story. Healing sources of spiritual guidance accompany the joyful and romantic ride.
Deeply intimate, insightful, and enriched with playful humor, this story invites readers to not only engage in the beauty of one woman’s journey of self-discovery, but to embark on their own journey toward living life to the fullest and highest degree possible.
